AL Central Discussion

[mr.hockey4242]

Twins offense is broken. Not even trying to have good AB's. Record breaking swing and misses against Sean Manaea.

Austin Martin is fucking brutal. This org/team has way too many talented bats. Even with Correa out there is no way he should be rostered much less starting.

 

[VikingFan2k2]

Until that cheap fuck Illitch sells the team this is going to be status quo.

Total POS. Woke up with a silver spoon and acts like he earned this shit.

Joe Pohlad is the same exact way. Except he's a 3rd generation spoiled punk. He actually said on the eve of Spring Training that the Twins needed to right size their business.

Essentially telling the fans to fuck off and that we're not adding payroll. I guess I respect the honesty, because his uncle Jim always just lied and said there were no restrictions on payroll.

But fans don't like it when billionaires tighten up the purse strings and it is showing at the box office. Because despite being better than the 2023 Twins, they are on pace to have lower attendance.

 

[Stakesarehigh]

Joe Pohlad is the same exact way. Except he's a 3rd generation spoiled punk. He actually said on the eve of Spring Training that the Twins needed to right size their business.

Essentially telling the fans to fuck off and that we're not adding payroll. I guess I respect the honesty, because his uncle Jim always just lied and said there were no restrictions on payroll.

But fans don't like it when billionaires tighten up the purse strings and it is showing at the box office. Because despite being better than the 2023 Twins, they are on pace to have lower attendance.

If you're going to treat a sports franchise as a business and not an investment then you should sell.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

If you're going to treat a sports franchise as a business and not an investment then you should sell.

It’s kinda wild there’s a 50/50 chance the Royals make the postseason in large part because they grew a pair and just spent around 50% of their estimated revenue like a normal team… they lost 100 plus games a year ago.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

This is the worst game of at bats I think I have ever seen from a Twins team. Holy fuck.

Miranda has been great but Christ at some point hes got to take a pitch that goes over his head. He literally swings at any ball that doesn't directly hit said head.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

White Sox blow another

 

[bksballer89]

White Sox blow another

shocking

 

[VikingFan2k2]

White Sox blow another

83 losses before August. And could be 84 tomorrow because Singer is no pushover.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

83 losses before August. And could be 84 tomorrow because Singer is no pushover.

they will snap the streak vs us when we start Austin Martin over Matt Wallner for fun

 

[Fountain City Blues]

White Sox blow another

Their bullpen is quite reliable for the opposition. Takes a real one to outsuck the Royals bullpen.

 

[VikingFan2k2]

they will snap the streak vs us when we start Austin Martin over Matt Wallner for fun

If Chicago rolls out a lefty, you know that's the way Rocco will go.

I think you're a little tough on Martin. He's struggling big-time right now, but I'm not giving up on him just yet.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

If Chicago rolls out a lefty, you know that's the way Rocco will go.

I think you're a little tough on Martin. He's struggling big-time right now, but I'm not giving up on him just yet.

He's terrible. He's slugging .320. Everything is a dribbler.

Its just hilarious that Wallner is a infinitely better player and it took Martin getting hurt to even get Wallner back up here.

We finally get Farmer to become irrelevant and then get Martin to torment the lineup instead. The guy hit 6th yesterday haha.

 

[VikingFan2k2]

He's terrible. He's slugging .320. Everything is a dribbler.

Its just hilarious that Wallner is a infinitely better player and it took Martin getting hurt to even get Wallner back up here.

We finally get Farmer to become irrelevant and then get Martin to torment the lineup instead. The guy hit 6th yesterday haha.

He has like 160 at bats in the majors. He will never be a power hitter, but he does have potential as a utility type of player.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

He has like 160 at bats in the majors. He will never be a power hitter, but he does have potential as a utility type of player.

Well he can figure out that potential in the minors

You know, where Wallner went for 3 months after 25 Abs coming off a 200 AB season with a OPS of .900.

IDC if Martin is a power hitter. He's nothing right now. He hits grounders and bats .230. We got so many guys in AAA hitting far better until Correa is ready.

We are in a playoff hunt, not "let shitty players try and improve" seasons over mode.

 

[VikingFan2k2]

Well he can figure out that potential in the minors

You know, where Wallner went for 3 months after 25 Abs coming off a 200 AB season with a OPS of .900.

IDC if Martin is a power hitter. He's nothing right now. He hits grounders and bats .230. We got so many guys in AAA hitting far better until Correa is ready.

We are in a playoff hunt, not "let shitty players try and improve" seasons over mode.

Fair enough. I just don't see a future with most of those players. Julien clearly is going into fluke territory. Miranda got red hot and then hurt. Then back to 2023. Not the fluke 2 weeks or the slick run he went on in his rookie season.

By the way, how badly has Kirilloff worked out? He hit the 60 day and he'll probably never play for the Twins again.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

Fair enough. I just don't see a future with most of those players. Julien clearly is going into fluke territory. Miranda got red hot and then hurt. Then back to 2023. Not the fluke 2 weeks or the slick run he went on in his rookie season.

By the way, how badly has Kirilloff worked out? He hit the 60 day and he'll probably never play for the Twins again.

Kirilloff is done. Just can’t be healthy. He’s still probably the best overall talent. But key parts of his body that directly impact hitting are shot.

Miranda’s stats post crazy hitting run were a fluke. But also his last year injured were too. He’s a quality bat. Probably like .285/.325/.460 type player. His issue is he swings at everything. If he ever develops discipline his ceiling is so much higher. He can hit anything close. But his bad exit velocity and any Ks are a direct result of swinging like his Vlad senior. Which he isn’t.

Julien has to swing the damn bat. I think we messed with him too. Tried to increase his power this year and it sacrificed hitting. We are stacked with infielders so he will have trouble working back. Keaschall is coming fast.

Larnach I still have no clue. Potential has always been there. He’s had by far the lowest “ceiling of results” but also hasn’t had the horrid stretch the rest have had. Hits into a lot of bad luck. I think he has like 7 fly outs to center that are homers in over half the ball parks. Still mostly eats fastballs. But unlike yeaes past he’s hit some non fast balls.

Wallner is by far the biggest ceiling of the group. And I don’t think it’s close. The arm is a lethal weapon. For a big guy he moves well so he’s not a total LF liability. And when you hit the ball as hard as he does and have the plate discipline he does. You can swing and miss a lot more. Because he mostly swings at strikes so when he does make contact it’s going far/and or hard.

In hindsight losing Rooker looks bad. But at the time Rooker sucked. Wallner is a better version. Has actually shown the upside. Losing him would be a big mistake.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

Fair enough. I just don't see a future with most of those players. Julien clearly is going into fluke territory. Miranda got red hot and then hurt. Then back to 2023. Not the fluke 2 weeks or the slick run he went on in his rookie season.

By the way, how badly has Kirilloff worked out? He hit the 60 day and he'll probably never play for the Twins again.

Also, yesterday broke me more than most. Because it was the rare regular season game where we could have an exact blue print and plan similar to playoffs

Jax/Duran/Alacala all hadnt pitched in a week. They were going to throw yesterday 100%.

So all Festa had to do was get through 5 in a competent fashion. He did.

And we proceeded to get 2 hits and K 11 times vs fucking Sean Manaea.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

Martin starting again. Vs a righty.

 

[WiggyRuss]

At the end of the day I think the Guardians and Twins did not make huge moves for 2 main reasons:

1. Payroll restrictions--- the Twins had an edict from ownership not to spend--- and the Guardians were never going to take on a contract like Arezorena or Snell.

The Guardians are not going to take on long term money and will (hopefully) focus on extensions for Naylor and Kwan. Forwhatever reasons the Twins owner had them hard-capped it seemed like.

2. I think both teams realize their best days and most competitive teams are likely still ahead of them. Prospects are prospects and no guarantee--- but the Twins between Rodriguez and Jenkins have some very high level guys near the top. The Guardians are again, the youngest team in baseball- and just had the #1 pick and a very deep draft to add to guys like DeLatuer, Manzardo--- and down the line Chourio and Velazquez.

Losing Bieber and Espino really hurt the Guardians top end pitching this year--- maybe they bring Bieber back- and maybe Espino can one day get healthy (though that is a huge questions mark).

It is a weird thing to say- the best days are ahead while you have the best record in baseball--- but the Guardians consistently remain a good team with a low payroll because they don't mortgage the future.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

Michael Massey (2B)

Maikel Garcia (3B)

Paul Dejong (3B*)

Adam Frazier

Garrett Hampson

Name

106	86	59	43	88	vs LHP wRC+
93	71	105	58	62	Vs RHP wRC+
94	74	95	56	75	Overall by WRC+
3	2	-2 in 88 Innings	x	x	OAA